Windows password

[wks]

Hi all my daughter has a old laptop(vista) that as been at her works for 3 years + and as been working from home but as now managed to get it home. The problem is she as forgotten the password is there a way to retrieve it. She would like to get some old photo's off it. It was the reason she took it to work but the computer buffs are not there now. Have thought about using a linux distro but thought i would ask here in case there was another way.

Bill

[Backpain]

Use a password reset program to unlock the PC. It will boot off the CDRom drive and it will clear the password upon the next boot sequence.

[zing269]

If the drive used bitlocker, only available on Vista Enterprise or Ultimate, then there is no way without the recovery key. If she just forgot the normal password then she can l0phtcrack https://gitlab.com/l0phtcrack/l0phtcrack/-/releases.

[davexnet]

Whether it's a local or microsoft account is a factor. See here for some steps to follow
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/change-or-reset-your-windows-password-8271...ion=Windows_10

On the other hand, if all you want are the photos, you can easily create a "live" Linux USB on another PC and boot it in the labtop.
No need to actually install it

[wks]

Thanks its vista home. Will look for password reset program.

Bill